Inhuman conditions in our jails

DR. BENIGNO Agbayani Jr., an orthopedic surgeon, died in prison at the young age of 58 while serving sentence for reckless imprudence resulting in serious physical injuries.

The criminal charge was filed after the doctor conducted an operation (arthroscopy, or a procedure for treating joint problems) on a patient who allegedly suffered injuries on one of his knees because the medical instrument used for the procedure was not sterilized.  

The trial court convicted Dr. Agbayani and sentenced him to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of two years.

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Several layers of appeals did not reverse the conviction.

The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court decision in a resolution issued in June 2021. The appeal was denied because the doctor failed to file a memorandum within the deadline. The factual issue of whether the arthroscope was sterilized was no longer decided because the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts in appealed cases.

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Now several doctors are up in arms over the “wrongful” accusation against Dr. Agbayani.  

Said to be the first imprisoned doctor for malpractice in the Philippines, he was arrested in May this year and committed at the Manila city jail.

“We strongly support the request for clarifications regarding the legal issues related to his incarceration. We firmly believe that this intervention is necessary to address the growing concerns among medical practitioners who fear a similar fate in the future,” said the Philippine Orthopedic Association in a statement.

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Dr. Agabayani died of a heart attack last October 5.

While in jail he was supposedly able to tell colleagues about his ordeal in the decrepit facility. He bravely said he was fine after having adjusted to the separation from his family, and despite having to suffer from the almost unbearable heat and humidity inside a prison cell.

Delays in the dispensation of justice help populate prison walls. Philippine prisons are notoriously overcrowded and underfunded. Detainees and convicts have to learn the unique skill of sleeping while standing. Sewage systems cannot pass the most tolerant third-world standards.

Our prisons are cesspools of disease and untold human suffering. Having a bunk and an electric fan to one’s self is peculiarly considered “special treatment” in this country. Death would be better than prison.

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These conditions have bred corruption. Certain comforts are subject to “tax” imposed by prison officials and personnel.

The normalization of these sub-human conditions has deadened any collective sense of scandal that can possibly germinate from whatever decency we may still be nursing in our hearts.

The anti-illegal drugs campaign of the previous administration ignored the reality that detention facilities offered by local governments could not absorb the hundreds of thousands of “surrenderees,” as well as those apprehended as a result of intensified “buy-bust” operations.

But these considerations were sidelined in favor of an exultant drug war, on the well-publicized claim that the country has become a narco-State.  

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Whether he was denied his day in court appears to be academic, but Dr. Agbayani’s heart attack while in prison should serve to re-direct government’s attention to the rehabilitation and expansion of its prison facilities./PN